


Blood of the Covenant

by shipskicksandgiggles



Series: tumblr prompts [40]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Character Death, M/M, Minor Character Death, Protective Tony Stark, Sort Of, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Wakes & Funerals, wedding vows
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-01
Updated: 2021-02-01
Packaged: 2021-03-12 00:14:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 618
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29126310
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shipskicksandgiggles/pseuds/shipskicksandgiggles
Summary: December 16, 1991 there's a car crash. James Rhodes comes back as fast as he can
Relationships: James "Rhodey" Rhodes/Tony Stark
Series: tumblr prompts [40]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1566982
Comments: 2
Kudos: 36





	Blood of the Covenant

**Author's Note:**

> I love: them and that's all  
> prompt: "You're all I have left"

The second Rhodey heard about the car accident, he’d called in a few favors and flew back to New York as soon as he could. He made it in the day before the funeral. 

Tony met him on the air strip. 

It was strange to see him wearing a suit. His sunglasses hid his eyes a little too well. 

“Sour Patch!” At least his smile looked real. “You’re here!”

“Of course I’m here, Tones. How’re you holding up?”

His shoulders dropped. “Not well,” he admitted softly. “Better now that you’re here. Now come on, let's go home.”

~~~

They didn’t talk in the car. Rhodey offered to drive just so Tony wouldn’t have to. He seemed grateful to be able to slouch in the passenger’s seat. He idly wondered when the last time Tony slept was. 

He drove through some backwoods until they reached a mansion that could have housed their entire dorm building at MIT. Tony showed him where to park, then he helped carry his bags inside. 

Tony offered him a room. 

“Please, we slept in one room together for 4 whole years. A week won’t kill us.”

“You’re staying for a whole week?”

“Yeah. It was as much as they would let me take off, otherwise I would have stayed as long as you needed me for.”

“I think I love you.”

“Think? I know I love you, Tones.”

He just smiled and pulled him into a hug. “You’re the best.”

“I know. You wanna have a movie night the same way we used to at school?”

Tony nodded and led him to a living room. “I have  _ A New Hope  _ on VHS.”

He let Tony fall asleep on his chest that night. It was more than obvious that he needed it. 

~~~

The funeral was worse than he was expecting. He stayed as close to Tony as he could the whole time, warding off journalists and businessmen alike just to give him space to grieve. 

“Thank you,” Tony had whispered at some point. “I don’t want to deal with them just yet.”

“I know, Tones.”

~~~

He stayed by his side for almost the whole time he was there, helping him get things together to reemerge as the CEO of Stark Industries at the end of the month. 

Together they’d vetted a new PA, Virginia Potts (Rhodey liked her a lot. She could handle Tony’s energy like a champ), scheduled a month of board meetings that would determine the course of action of the company for the next ten years, and even put in the time to code a new bot so that DUM-E would have a friend. U was an absolute delight in the lab.

“Are you going to be okay?” he asked when he was packing his bag on his last day home. 

“Probably.”

“Write me, okay? Keep me updated on everything.”

“I wish you didn’t have to go back.”

“I’ll be back before you know it.”

“I can’t lose you, Rhodey.”

“You won’t.”

Tony sighed. “I can’t protect you out there.”

Rhodey tried to hide his smile. “What makes you think I need your protection, sweetheart?”

“I know you don’t, it’s just-” Tony huffed. “Don’t you understand? You’re all I have left.”

He dropped everything he was doing to cradle Tony’s head in his hands. “Hey, don’t say that.”

“It’s true, Rhodey! I lost Ana and Jarvis and now my parents! You’re the closest thing I have to family now.”

Rhodey sighed as he wrapped him in a hug. “I’m not going to leave you, Tones.”

“Promise?” His voice was muffled in Rhodey’s shirt. 

“Not even death can do us part, dear.”

~~~

Those words became the end of his wedding vows 20 years later. 

**Author's Note:**

> prompt found somewhere on my [tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/playboyphilanthro-pissed)


End file.
